On Friday I completed the Basic Gang Specialist Course and became an official member of the New York Gang Investigators Association and am very pleased to be part of such a worthwhile and supportive organisation. I am now qualified to give evidence in court about gangs in New York which is great, hopeful that will be a skill I can use in the future as the qualification lasts for 5 years.
Over the weekend, we had a Block party which was cool, all the neighbours were my Aunt lives closed off the road and all the children came out to play, they had loads of food, music and games for the little ones which was cool. Really nice to see the community come together to do something positive. On Sunday went to Nyak for the day which is in Upstate New York and what a beautiful place it is! It is only 45 min from Manhattan and sooooo different. There is a beautiful lake with a view of the city, a play park for the children and lots of little quaint shops. Such a lovely little town, reminds me of home. Oh and they have a massive shopping centre about 5 minutes away which is amazing!!!!!
Yesterday i went to visit an organisation in Manhattan that i had been in contact with over the last few months called Council for Unity (www.councilforunity.org) . They are a none profit organisation that work with the community, schools, families and correctional facilities to bring people together to 'reduce violence and discrimination in schools, integrate communities, promote community policing and community safety and convert correctional institutions into community assets that prevent crime'. It was a very interesting meeting, the man i met was called Sean and he himself was a former gang member who had served time in a correctional facility and had been supported by Council For Unity. He now works to help others to show them that there is a way out and hope for those who are involved in gangs or have served time in prison and do not feel that they have a chance to make a new start upon release. He gave me loads of useful information and asked me if i would come back to visit him later in the year, when the schools go back after the summer so that i can go out with him to visit the local schools and correctional facilities that he works in which would be another amazing opportunity!
The more i see of this place the more i fall in love it it!!
About Me
- Donna Marsh on Gangs
- My name is Donna Marsh and I currently work as a Registered Mental Health Nurse in a Prison working mainly with young offenders with mental health problems. I have worked with young people for the past 7 years and find this client group very interesting. With the rise of knife and gun crime in England, I have many dealings with gang members and find it fascinating to find out why young people join gangs and engage in this kind of gang activity. Due to this, I have also been involved in the making of a DVD to raise awareness of knife crime in the UK in conjunction with the prison and a local school, this has been distributed to schools and Young Offenders Institutes across the country.
My journey
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